Can feeder and timer



Feb. 9, 1932. A. R. THOMPSON CAN FEEDER AND TIMER Filed Jan. 2, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR- 10 QE I mf 73.;rf

ATTORNEYS.

Filed Jan. 2, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR, mm P. kin

ATTORNEYS.

Gil

I Patented Feb. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT R. THOMPSON, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANDERSONBARN- GROVER MFG. 00., OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA CAN FEEDER AND TIMER Application filed January 2, 1980. Serial No. 418,009.

6 ity to pass through them with precision, a

' rapidly moving can procession subject to no interruption or to any condition or emergency tending to interfere with the orderly and continuous travel of the procession, durs 1 ing which it is subjected to such special situations and operaticins as may lie in the nature of the machine through which it passes.

, Because of the necessary transfers and assoclatlons wlth functional members, which the can procession meets, the timing element,

asit is called, by which the continuity of the advance is unbroken and its accuracy of association insured, is of prime importance and is especially noticeable in the feeding of the 2 cans to the machine and their timely transfer to the functional members thereof. It is in this co nection that my present invention lies; and urthermore, because of the prime necessity to timely feed the'cans to the traveling, somewhat widely spaced drain-covers of a can-drainer of a type like that disclosed in my pending application, Serial No. 319,283, filed November 14th, 1928, I have, for a more complete understanding, illus- 0 trated said invention as associated with said can-drainer, though such association is not herein claimed, as it forms the subject matter of-a separate application, Serial No. 497,557,

filed as a division hereof, Nov. 22,1930.

Y Though I have so disclosed it herein, it will be understoodthat I am not to be confined to such special application, since the essential features of the feeder and timer are equally applicable to any situatlon in-which a relation of this nature is required.

The object, then, of my invention is to provide for the accurate andefi'ective feed and timing of the cans with but a single'transfer to the machine path; and to this end my invention, briefly. stated, comprises a feed mem-' her, and an associated screw adapted in con junction with said igel ober to spacially adjust and control the rel 'vepositions of the cans on said feed member as they are being advanced to meet directly by a single transfer plicable.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

the conditions existin in the apparatus to which the cans are ,fed l In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my feeder and timer in its preferred form, as associated for example with a candrainer of the type of my pending applications above mentioned, though it must be understood that changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my can-feeder and timer in connection with a can-drainer to which it is especially ap- Fig. 3 is a View of the timing member.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4+4 of Fig. 1.

In Fig.3, the timing member 1 is a screw, the thread 2 of which has an increasing lead and an increasing thickness, preferably rimhollowed or doubled, to save metal, as shown at 3. i]

In Figs. 1 known in the art vas a can-drainer. This is an example of any machine which handles a continuous procession or file of cans in a manner requiring their presentation under control and with precision'in point of'time, for association with such members of the apparatus as have to do with the procession according to the purposeof the machine;

As my invention herein may be the better disclosed by illu'stratil'lg it as adapted for a can-drainer ofthe type described in my applications above mentioned, I have, in Figs. 1 and 2, shown, and shall describe without unnecessary prolixity such a machine.

and 2'is disclosed a machine,

A frame 4, has within it a vertically tortuous or sinuous can-track 5 adapted for the inversion and-reversion of the cans according to'the usual function of such machines," and it has also an endless traveling member 6 which carries at proper intervals, drain-covwhich by impinging upon the back of the can, propels said can along the track 5.

Leading out from the upper portion of the frame 4 is a can-track 9, which practically is an extension of the drain can-track 5, and which by its upturned side as seen in Fig. 2 forms a guide for the cans. Associated with this track is a traveling member 10, the two forming a can-feeder to the drainer, the cans resting upon the track 9 and member 10, and by friction with the latter advanced into the machine. Under and to one side of the upper run of the feeder member 10 lies the timer screw 1, the thread 2 of which is in position to engage closely between its coils, the lower portion of the cans 17 said thread extending through a cut-out section of the track 9, and pressing thecans against the turned up side of the track for complete and continuous con- 20' trol during the advance of the can file.

Suitable power mechanism is provided to drive, the moving members. For example, the endless drain-cover carrier 6 is mounted upon sprockets 11. This carrier is driven by a shaft 12, which in turn is driven by gears 13, Figs. 1 and 4, from a main power shaft 14. The timer screw 1 is driven by a gear 15 from the gears 13, and the feed member 10 is driven by bevel gears 16 and a sprocket 16', Fig. 1, from the power shaft 14. In describing the operation, I shall, for convenience, use the terminology of the canning art, and especially in connection with the type of can-drainers which comprises an endless, traveling member following the sinuosity of the can path and carrying at intervals drain-covers separated by a space necessary to permit them to follow said tortuous ath. p The cans, indicated at 17, previously washed and filled with the comestible, but as yet uncapped, are supplied upright to the feeder.

member 10. Whatever may be the means, not necessary to show herein, for so supplying'them, it must be noted that they reach and are delivered to "said member in a close file in which they touch each other. Obviously, if they continued in such close file, they could not meet their respective drain-covers 7 with timely precision, both because of the necessarily wide spacing of the covers and because of the absence of any accurate or positive control of the file as led in by the feeder member. In my present device, both timing accuracy and the control of each individual of the procession or file areprovided for. Each can as it passes over the outer end of the screw 1 is separately engaged by the screw thread 2 and, due to the increasing lead of said thread as the file advances and is opened, is spaced from its neighbors; and also, due to the increasing thickness of said thread which keeps the inter-coil spacing constant each can is still confined and controlled with fitting closeness between the thread coils and the opposing upturned side of the track 9; so that, with due predeteradvanced to the machine; and furthermore,

because of the immediate proximity of the delivery end of the feed assembly, the cans are passed to the machine track 5 directly and without other transfer.

The position of the timing'screw which enables it to engage the lower edge of the can is to be preferred to an engagement with its upper edge as being less possibly destructive to a weaker end of the can, and less likely to cause jamming. The upper edge of a can of the universally'used sanitary type presents an outwardly turned flange having a thin raw edge, easily bent or damaged and likely to cause considerable friction against the rubbing surface of the'screw thread, whereas the lower edge of such a can, being a finished seam, presents a smooth round surface.

The contact between the feed member 10 and the can being frictional only, it is prefera-ble, though not essential, to cause said member to travel at a speed somewhat greater than the normal or average speed ofad- Vance. of the cans. By so doing, the conveyer member has some tendency to accelerate and therefore separate the cans as they come within its sphere of influence, thereby assisting the screw in its accelerating function and reducing the friction between its thread and the can. The timing function, however, is performed solely by the screw, because such function necessitates positive control engagement with the can.

I I claim 1. A can-feeder and timer comprising a traveling member for advancing a file of cans and delivering them directly to an operating mechanism; and a separate associated screw, the] thread of which, as it approaches the delivery end of the traveling member, has an increasing lead adaptedto open the can file, and an increasing thickness of dimen sions adapted to keep the inter-coil spaces of the thread constant, said thread engaging between its coils, throughout its entire length, each can with controlling close fit.

2. A can-feeder and timer comprising a traveling member for advancing a file of cans and delivering them directly to an operating mechanism; and a separate, laterally associated screw, the thread of which, as it approaches the delivery end of the traveling member, has an increasing lead adapted to open the can file, and an increasing thickness of dimensions adapted to keep the inter-coil spaces of the thread constant, said thread engaging between its. equally spaced coils, throughout its entire length, the lower portion of each can with controlling close fit.

3. A can-feeder and timer comprising a traveling member for advancing a file of cans and delivering them directly to an operating mechanism; a separate, associated screw, the thread of which throughout its entire length closely engages the cans between its coils, and as it approaches the'delivery end of the traveling member has an increasing. lead adapted to open the file, and an increasing thickness of dimensions adapted to keep the inter-coil spaces of the thread constant; and a fixed guide member opposite said screw for holding the cans under positive control between the thread coils.

4. A can-feeder and timer comprising a longitudinally traveling conveyer element for advancing a file of cans, and a single screw coextensive therewith having a thread of increasing pitch toward the delivery end thereof whereby to engage the cans on said conveyer element and increasingly widen their spacial relation thereon, the thickness of said threads likewise increasing toward the delivery end of the screw so that the can, receiving spaces between the threads remain constant. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. ALBERT R. THOMPSON. 

